NCAA President Charlie Baker called it the elephant in the room. It’s what everyone in college athletics wants to know. How is the NCAA going to support athletes, especially those at the 100-or-so highest-resourced schools in Division I?

Baker, the former Massachusetts governor who is nine months into his job leading the NCAA, characterized his potentially landmark proposal yesterday as a “conversation starter” that he hopes will create a forward-looking model for the richest 100 schools, based on their annual athletic budgets.

“It’s what I would describe as an amalgamation of a bunch of thoughts, observations and approaches to this,” Baker said. “This is a conversation we need to have and it’s one the folks in Division I want to have. … We need to be able to anticipate where conversations are going and get to a place where we're talking about stuff that’s coming and not just reacting to other people’s agendas.”

Baker’s proposal, which he shared with NCAA membership yesterday and talked about in more detail today, suggests creating a separate power division -- he called it a subdivision. It would have different NIL rules and directly compensate athletes via a trust fund that would pay a minimum of $30,000 a year, but could pay more if the school wanted.

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As NCAA President Charlie Baker continued to discuss his radical proposal for Division I college athleticsat SBJ's Intercollegiate Athletics Forum today, reaction from around the sports world continued to pour in. Some of the reaction included: 

• Boston Herald columnist Bill Speros: "The NCAA is useless. With any luck, Charlie Baker will drive it into oblivion. If the SEC pulls out, it's done." 

• Fox Sports college football writer Bryan Fischer: "I really don't think people have grasped how significant it is that Charlie Baker this week has stated his intention to change two long-held beliefs at the NCAA: paying athletes directly by the schools and that pursuing competitive equity among schools is no longer okay."

• Seton Hall sports law professor Robert Boland: "I don’t think Charlie Baker is purposely dishonest, quite the opposite, but in denying that his proposals are a revenue share and his not recognizing “pay for play,” he has avoided two of his biggest questions about them."

• Insight Sports LA Founder/CEO Debbie Spander: "He still wants a 'little antitrust legislation' to protect NCAA?!"

• NIL lawyer Mit Winter: "Charlie Baker’s athlete compensation model is the most progressive plan ever put forward by the NCAA."

Three of the top commissioners in college sports are still digesting the landmark proposal this week from NCAA President Charlie Baker and how it will impact their properties. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips and Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark were speaking at SBJ’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum a day after Baker’s proposal leaked, and just minutes after Baker spoke at the same event.

For Yormark, simply moving in this direction signified an early win for Baker, who took on the role just nine months ago.

“We hired Charlie to lead, and he’s leading,” Yormark said. “It’s directionally correct, but there’s devils in the details and it’s sparked a lot of conversations. The other part of it is, from a culture standpoint we’ve been very reactive, and this has been a proactive approach. I feel good that we’ll end up in the right place.”

Phillips agreed that Baker, who had no prior college athletics experience, needs to be more proactive than reactive in the role.

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Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and Washington State AD Pat Chun talked about the football-only agreement between their two conferences at SBJ’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum. Nevarez: The deal will “provide some competitive football games for the season and allow them to continue to figure out the things they need to with their home conference.” Chun added, “Instability is part of the challenge.” Hear more of their comments below.

Hornets President & Vice Chairman Fred Whitfieldis stepping down from his position and departing the organization after more than 17 years leading the team’s business operations. Whitfield released a statement today, saying in part, "The time has come for me to step away and focus on my health and my family. Over the last 18 months I have successfully battled a serious case of throat cancer. I’ve also been focused on supporting my mother, who has her own health issues. As these priorities have occupied more of my time and energy, I realized that now is the right time to leave my role with the Hornets." 

Whitfield joined what was then Bobcats Sports & Entertainment in July 2006, serving as President & COO for 12 years before assuming the title of President & Vice Chairman in 2018. During his tenure, he oversaw significant changes, including the name change from Bobcats to Hornets in 2014, the rebranding of Spectrum Center in 2016 and the launch of both the Greensboro Swarm in the NBA G League in 2016 and Hornets Venom GT in the NBA 2K League in 2020. Under Whitfield’s leadership, the organization also secured renovations and a lease extension for Spectrum Center and reached long-term agreements with Ticketmaster to serve as the arena’s ticketing provider and Live Nation to book entertainment (Hornets). 

TIME magazine named Lionel Messi its 2023 Athlete of the Year. After the soccer superstar led Argentina to a World Cup title in 2022, he joined Inter Miami CF this year and "captivated a new country of soccer fans with his dazzling style of play." This is just the latest recognition for Messi, who also "took home his eighth Ballon d'Or this year." The award is annually presented to the "world's top player," and Messi also became the first active MLSer to get it (BLEACHER REPORT, 12/6).

RELATED: Messi boosts Inter Miami to record revenue, with bigger goal still ahead

The Belmont Stakes will be held at Saratoga Race Course in 2024 "to allow for the uninterrupted construction of a 'new and re-imagined' Belmont Park," N.Y. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced today. The 156th edition of the Belmont Stakes will take place June 8. The Racing Festival "will begin June 6, and continue through June 9." In addition, the New York Racing Association "will increase the purse" of the Belmont Stakes from $1.5M to $2M in 2024 -- "the first significant increase since 2014." In addition, "pending the approval of the North American Graded Stakes Committee," the Belmont Stakes "will be contested at 1 1/4 miles in 2024 rather than the traditional 1 1/2 miles, due to the configuration of Saratoga’s main track" (NEWSDAY, 12/6).

Joe Castiglione, the radio voice of the Red Sox for more than four decades, was announced today as the winner of the 2024 Ford C. Frick Award by the Baseball HOF. The award, given annually by the Hall for excellence in broadcasting, "will be presented to Castiglione at Hall of Fame Weekend" in July. Castiglione has called Red Sox games on radio for a record 41 seasons, with his calls through four World Series triumphs "becoming iconic in Boston." Castiglione joined the Red Sox radio team at Fenway in 1983 and "has shared the booth with partners such as Bob Starr, Dave O’Brien, Jerry Trupiano, and Will Flemming." Castiglione, 76, was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014 and is the franchise’s "longest-tenured broadcaster" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/6).

The Panthers announced today the team "will stick to its Charlotte-based facility outside of Bank of America Stadium" for training camp next summer -- leaving longtime camp home Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. Outside of the summer of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the team has operated out of Wofford for training camp "throughout the franchise’s existence, starting with the very first training camp in 1995." To accommodate training camp, the Panthers will "remove their practice bubble" -- the Atrium Health Dome -- following the regular season in January. The change will give the Panthers "three full-length practice fields" and "allow them the opportunity to rotate fields throughout the week to preserve and manage the fields." The team is "still trying to work through logistics in order to accommodate fan attendance." The team also noted that Fan Fest "will still be held in South Carolina, though neither the city nor the hosting facility was named" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/6).

Ticketing platform FanRally has added the Texas Rangers to its portfolio of clients with the introduction of a new flexible membership platform. The Rangers’ new Tex Flex plan, which they launched earlier this week, is a 20-game ticket package that offers flexibility to members as they choose which games they want to attend and where they want to sit. Members will utilize FanRally's technology, which is fully integrated into the MLB Ballpark App, to book, cancel, exchange and upgrade seats throughout the season.

Members can choose between two preset plans -- one which includes more marque games, and another that includes more weekend games -- or customize their own plan by choosing a general seating area at Globe Life Field and a select number of games from three tiers of matchups. Additional benefits of becoming a member include discounts at the ballpark (20% off concessions and 15% off merchandise), exclusive ballpark experiences and dedicated entry. Prices for the 20-game plan range from $400 to $1,800.

Chris Giles, who co-founded FanRally in 2020 after nearly three years as Oakland A’s COO, said his platform has seen members renew at an 11% higher rate than those who purchase a traditional ticket membership while spending 25% more than the cost of their membership on seat upgrades and add-on seats throughout the season. FanRally’s list of clients includes three other MLB clubs -- the Brewers, Rays and Astros -- as well as the NHL’s Kings and the NBA’s Knicks and Clippers.

“Our goal here is to make memberships work for modern fans,” Giles said. “Schedules change, who you’re attending with changes. So we're really just making membership work for fans today.”

Daktronics’ FY24 second quarter SEC filing yesterday showed the sports market’s leading LED company continuing to solidify its financial position, including a gross profit of $54.2M during the three-month period. Daktronics, which in many ways was a poster child for how the supply chain and cost inflation challenges of the last few years could nearly run a successful company aground, reported more than $64M in cash and cash equivalents. The same time last year, Daktronics had just $6.4M on hand and had to declare itself a going concern. 

The filing shows Daktronics continuing to whittle down its product order backlog, which was at $306.9M as of late October, compared to $463.1M at the same time last year. That’s the result of a more stable operating environment, Daktronics Chairman, President, and CEO Reece Kurtenbach wrote to shareholders. The company booked operating income of $19.4M, a significant lift from the $1.5M in the same quarter of FY23. Major new videoboards built by Daktronics were installed at Gillette Stadium, Empower Field at Mile High, and Carter Finley Stadium during Q2.

Of the $199.4M in net sales during Q2, $68.2M came from the Live Events vertical, which includes Daktronics’ sports venue business. Daktronics also booked more than $79M in Live Events business orders during the period. The company’s other markets include Commercial, High School Park and Recreation, Transportation, and International. About 89% of sales during Q2 were domestic.

Through six months of the ‘24 fiscal year, Daktronics has netted $125.3M in gross profit, a 118% increase over the preceding fiscal year. More than $56M of long-term debt was outstanding. 

The V Foundation's third annual Boo-Yah: A Celebration of Stuart Scott event this weekend raised nearly $2.4M, including a $500,000 anonymous donor match, bringing the three-year total to over $5.2M donated to  cancer research (V Foundation).

Oak View Group named Sodexo Live! COO Julieta Gutierrez Macias SVP & CFO of OVG360. Assuming her role immediately, she will report to OVG360 President Chris Granger and OVG CFO Ade Patton  (OVG).

Crypto.com Arena is teaming with r.World to introduce the r.Cup reusable pilot program during the Depeche Mode concerts on Dec. 15 and 17. This pilot program will allow the arena and r.World to divert hundreds of thousands of single-use cups from the waste stream through reuse (Crypto.com Arena).

AXIOS looked at the most-viewed Wikipedia topics of 2023 and found that the 2023 Cricket World Cup (38.2 million) and Indian Premier League (32.0 million) ranked third and fourth, respectively (AXIOS PM, 12/5).

Football Association Chair Debbie Hewitt in a FIFA disciplinary hearing said that she "felt 'uncomfortable' at the behaviour of disgraced Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales " at the 2023 Women's World Cup Final. Rubiales was "given a three-year ban from football" by FIFA in October (BBC, 12/6).

The New South Wales government unveiled a "tightly wrapped" proposal which "could convert a major Sydney racecourse into a new metro station, entertainment precinct and space for up to 25,000 homes, effectively creating a mini city." Under the plans, Rosehill Racecourse in the city's west will be "relocated to other properties owned by the Australian Turf Club, who approached the government with the idea" (FOXSPORTS.com.au, 12/6).

More: 

• Why golf, swimming and athletics are choosing to limit impact of performance advances.

• Euro 2024: Adidas ball technology will enable quicker offside and handball decisions, says Uefa.

"I mean, what the hell is the thing called? It's called the World Champions Cup, right? So let's play all over the world and showcase our fantastic tour " -- WCC Team Europe Member Colin Montgomerie, on the idea of moving the WCC around across the globe similar to Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups (Wes Sanderson, SBJ).

Before the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament brings the action to Las Vegas, go behind the scenes with Michael Imperioli and Magic Johnson on set of The Heist.

7.3 million  -- Number of people who watched the ACC Football Championship last Saturday according to ESPN, which makes it the "second highest in the past decade" (X, 12/6).